Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Six Degrees of Separation


I did something last week I said I’d never do – I signed up for Facebook on the Internet. It is a social network that began as a college campus networking tool, but soon expanded to anyone and everyone. And it’s been incredible how many old friendships I’ve renewed in so short a time… and how many new ones have begun.

There is a phrase that comes to mind: Six Degrees of Separation. It is a theory that if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth. It’s even led to a game called “Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon,” a party game in which you can take any actor and link him to actor Kevin Bacon. Let’s see… Kate Winslet was in Titanic with Leonardo DiCaprio, Leonardo DiCaprio was in Catch Me If You Can with Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon [I’ll be darned]. Ronald Reagan was in The Young Doctors with Eddie Albert, Eddie Albert was in The Big Picture with Kevin Bacon… well, you get the idea!

Small world, isn’t it?

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.” John Wesley said, “The world is our parish.” It seems clear that God uses encounters with believers to draw people to Himself. In that respect, if we allow ourselves to be used as vessels, there is only one degree of separation between people and God.

The world really isn't that big of a place - or parish.

Sky+

2 comments:

Questing Parson said...

Wow! As they say, "This will preach."

Anonymous said...

Not religious in nature but 6th degree-like... that I would see some guy’s face on my Middle School Basketball coach’s page AND my husband's college roommate's page. How? This guy dated my coach's daughter in college. Then moved to Ark where he was a political spokesperson. My husband's old roommate, and best man in our wedding, was a reporter for a major newspaper in AR where he met and got to know this person who's only connection to me would be found through facebook. ODD- convoluted.